It’s safe to say Daredevil: Born Again Episode 8, titled “Isle of Joy,” is anything but joyful. Instead, it’s a stylish, haunting, and shock-laden lead-up to what promises to be a jaw-dropping finale. In typical Daredevil fashion, the pain is personal, the threats are real, and the truth cuts deep.

And at the heart of it all? A blood-soaked gala hosted by Wilson Fisk—decked in his signature white suit—where secrets finally scream louder than the symphony.

THE TEETH COME OUT—LITERALLY

Bullseye, a.k.a. Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter, finally makes his move—or is it Matt’s move? This episode plays a wicked game of chess between predators, with Matt Murdock paying a visit to the killer of his best friend, Foggy Nelson. Locked up in general population, Dex claims he needs Matt’s help to stay alive. Matt, of course, isn’t interested in helping him—he’s digging for answers. Was Foggy’s death just an act of revenge, or a calculated hit?

Dex stays silent, but not for long.

In a brutal exchange that starts like an interrogation and ends in strategic violence, Matt knocks out one of Bullseye’s teeth. Which Dex then uses—because he’s Bullseye, obviously—as a makeshift weapon to murder a dentist and guards, staging a prison break straight out of a horror movie. It’s so on-brand it hurts. The big question: Did Matt do it on purpose? All signs point to yes. A reluctant partnership with the devil you know might be Daredevil’s most reckless tactic yet—but it might also be his most effective.

THE WHISKEY THAT SPOKE FROM THE DEAD

Matt’s visit to Josie’s bar provides more than just a chance to drown his frustration in whiskey. While talking to his old bartender, Josie brings out a specific drink—O’Melveny’s—Foggy’s celebratory whiskey of choice. The implication is chilling: Foggy believed he had won something big before he died. That can only mean one thing—someone silenced him on purpose.

It’s a subtle but crushing moment, one that adds a sharp edge to Matt’s spiraling guilt and rage. He’s been trying to work within the system again, only to realize that the system is rigged and rotten from the top down.

THERAPY, POLITICS, AND THE PARTY FROM HELL

Meanwhile, Heather—the therapist dating Matt—has just revealed that Fisk is one of her patients. Yeah, you read that right. She intellectualizes masked vigilantes to the point of lumping Daredevil and Muse together. Ouch. The tension boils over at a black-and-white gala hosted by Fisk himself. Matt shows up as Heather’s plus-one and gets a front-row seat to the political theater unraveling before him.

Daniel Blake, the latest deputy mayor of communications, is little more than a pawn in Fisk’s corrupt game, while BB Urich, still playing the media puppet (on the surface), is trying to fight the power under the radar.

Fisk’s grand entrance? A mix of intimidation and spectacle. He arrives in full Kingpin glory—white suit, smug grin, and an aura of control that makes your skin crawl. But just as the event hits peak tension, Matt overhears a crucial detail: Bullseye has escaped and is heading straight for the party.

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SHOTS FIRED — AND NOT AT WHO YOU THINK

Bullseye’s arrival at the gala is exactly as violent and chaotic as you’d expect. He takes aim at Wilson Fisk, but in a move that’s equally heroic and baffling, Matt throws himself in front of the bullet to save Fisk. Yeah. That happened.

It’s one of those “what is he thinking?” moments, but it makes sense in Matt’s twisted moral compass. Despite orchestrating a jailbreak and letting a murderer loose, he still won’t let someone die if he can help it. Even Fisk.

To make matters worse, it’s during this chaos that Matt pieces together the final—and perhaps most soul-crushing—truth: Vanessa Fisk ordered the hit on Foggy.

Let that sink in.

VIGILANTISM TAKES MANY FORMS

The real MVP of the episode, though? BB Urich. Beneath her façade as a loyal media puppet lies a daring journalist ready to take on Fisk from the shadows. Her backdoor deal with the police commissioner promises an exchange of classified dirt and a plan to take down the corrupt task force. It’s the kind of team-up Matt needs—smart, strategic, and burning with quiet rage.

FINAL THOUGHTS

“Isle of Joy” is a turning point. It doesn’t just escalate tension—it detonates everything we thought we knew about the alliances and motives that have driven this series so far. From blood-stained revenge to backroom betrayals, this episode draws the battle lines for one final showdown.

And if Matt survives that bullet? Oh, Fisk better watch out. Because Daredevil just got personal.